Hey There, Little Red Riding Hood
by BroadwayBaggins
Summary: A story of sarcasm and scarlet cloaks, of Black Knights and impossible quests, of moving on and finding love in the most unlikely of places. A Tom and Ruby story inspired by drabble prompts on tumblr. (Rating will go up as the story progresses!)
1. Story of My Life

_**Author's Note; Well, here we are again! I decided that since my Tom and Ruby drabbles keep increasing in number, they deserved their own story here on as well. I'd like to thank, as always, lala-kate, miscreantrose, and gazelle-legs for encouraging me and inspiring me to keep writing these drabbles! I can't wait to see where these two characters take me!**_

He seems to be taking it remarkably well, Ruby observes as she watches the man in front of her with interest. She's not sure how she would react if she suddenly tumbled into a portal and found herself in a whole other realm she had no idea existed, which appears to be just what has happened. Now that the man she found unconscious while wandering through the forest on her way home to Granny's has awakened, Ruby has been able to coax him into speaking with her, to try to make some sense of him and his strange clothes and manner of speaking. She knows that his name is Tom, that he comes from a place far away (Downton Abbey, he says—to her it sounds as fantastical as her explanation of her land no doubt did to him), but other than that, she can coax no more from him just yet. She tends to the nasty bump on his head the best that she can, offering to bring him home for Granny to look at, but he seems reluctant to trust her. Ruby recognizes the guarded look in his eyes, the way his gaze seems haunted at times as he fingers the wedding band on his left hand. She eyes it curiously but does not ask.

"I'm sorry," she says softly, making him look up at her. "It must be difficult. Being so far away from home."

She thinks she sees the faintest hint of a smile, but it is tinged with sadness and gone in the blink of an eye. "Maybe not as hard as you might think. Downton…it was always _her_ home. I don't think it's really become mine yet. I never felt like I fit in there, really. Not that I was made to feel unwelcome—not all the time, anyway. Just rather like I didn't belong in their world."

"I know how that feels," Ruby says softly. Now Tom does look over at her, noticing the way she fingers the scarlet fabric of the cloak she hasn't taken off once despite the rising temperature. He almost smiles again, the sight of her reminding him of one of the illustrations from Sybbie's storybook. A sudden thought strikes him…_No…it can't be…_

"Do you?" he asks.

She nods, shrugging it off as if it means nothing to her. "Story of my life."


	2. Meeting Granny

It takes some persuading to get him to come with her, but in the end what settles Tom's decision is the rumbling of his stomach. Ruby had been unsuccessfully trying to persuade him to come along with her to meet Granny, thinking perhaps she might have a few answers as to why Tom had been unceremoniously dropped into the Enchanted Forest via a portal that, for all intents and purposes, should never have existed in the first place. Tom had refused at first, apparently reluctant to leave the spot (perhaps he thought if he stayed where he was, he would eventually find his way back home). Upon hearing the growl of hunger, Ruby had smirked at him as he felt his cheeks grow hot with embarrassment, looking down to glare at his stomach as if cursing himself for his own hunger. "You know," she had said, grinning cheekily at him. "My Granny might be able to help you out—maybe figure out a way to get back to your own land. _And_ she's a really good cook. If you were interested."

Now, she finds herself leading him through the forest, making sure to tread lightly and keeping her eyes always alert, ready to ward off any attack that might come. Regina's patrols have been more frequent than ever these days, her desperation to find Snow White becoming more and more apparent each day. It's been several days since Ruby herself has seen her friend, and she can only hope that Snow has continued to stay several steps ahead of her stepmother…

"How much farther?" Tom asks, his voice seeming impossibly loud in the otherwise silent forest. Ruby nearly jumps out of her skin, immediately whirling around and clapping her hand over Tom's mouth to silence him.

"Shut up!" she hisses. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

Tom only stares at her, his eyes confused and somewhat irritated, no doubt, with her behavior. Ruby waits several minutes, ears straining for even the slightest hint of a sound or a footstep. Finally, she releases him, but stays close enough to whisper in his ear. "If you want to keep your head," she says, her voice low and breathy. "Then you're going to have to keep your mouth shut."

"Are we hiding from someone?"

Ruby nods almost imperceptibly. "The Queen," she whispers back, feeling no further explanation is needed.

"You're on the run from your Queen?"

_"I'm_ not. My _friend, _her stepdaughter, is. The Queen would do anything to find her, and these days, it seems like she doesn't differentiate much between the one she's after and the people who are dumb enough to stand in her way."

Tom nods now, although he still looks unsure. Ruby studies him a long moment before finally turning away, preparing to continue their trek to Granny's house. "If we're supposed to be hiding," she hears him ask in that lilting voice of his, still far too loud, "Then why are you wearing that ridiculous bright cape?"

Ruby blusters. "That's none of your business," she says, turning to face him, but Tom has frozen in place. His eyes are now wide as saucers, and he's staring almost cross-eyed at a place directly in front of them. Ruby turns, almost knowing what it is before she sees it—the bolt of a crossbow pointed directly between Tom's eyes.

"Ah," she says, her voice calm. "Tom Branson, I'd like you to meet my grandmother."


	3. Into the Woods

Somehow, the forest seems even more intimidating at night.

Without meaning to, it brings Tom back to the night they had set fire to the estate in Ireland. Guilt surges through him as he thinks of his frenzied flight back to Downton, how he'd worried for Sybil's safety the entire time. He thinks of Sybbie, back at Downton without him, and suddenly wonders if he'll ever get home to his daughter. Ruby seems bent on helping him find his way back, but her grandmother is still suspicious of him, he knows…and both of them seem skeptical that there is a way to get him back where he belongs.

Suddenly Tom stops short. He's been following Ruby's brilliant red cape as best he can, but now there's no sign of the woman or her cloak. "Ruby?" He whispers as loud as he dared. "Ruby?"

A twig snaps behind him, and he hears a voice that is decidedly not Ruby's.

"Who goes there?"


	4. Is That a Challenge?

Tom freezes, hardly daring to breathe as he hears footsteps coming closer to him. The voice is decidedly not Ruby's—it is gruff and male, and muffled as if the person who it belongs to is speaking from behind something. Tom's heart hammers against his ribcage painfully, his breath coming short, terrified that whoever has heard him is going to find him. He's a stranger in a new world he still doesn't quite believe in, and Ruby warned him of the dangers of the forest. What is she thinking, leaving him alone like this? Unless…and he hardly dares to even think it…unless Ruby has already encountered the same people who are on his tail…

Suddenly a hand clamps down over his mouth, and Tom lets out a curse that is thankfully muffled by soft flesh. Whoever has their grip on him brings him backwards a few steps, until they are entirely encased in the foliage, before hissing into his ear. "Do. Not. Move."

Tom almost sighs in relief. _Ruby._

She doesn't let him go, as if worried he'll make a sound and blow their cover, and she stays so close he can feel her warm breath on his ear. "The Queen's men," she whispers in explanation. "Black Knights. They'll be looking for my friend."

A thousand questions perch on the edge of Tom's tongue, but he does not dare voice any of them. Seconds seem to stretch into hours as they wait, hearing the footsteps of the Black Knights and the occasional stomp of horses hooves as they wait impatiently for their masters to return. Tom's heart is still pounding, and he's begun to pray that if this really is a dream after all that he please, _please_ wake up soon, back in his own bed in a world where his daughter is right down the hall and things make far more sense than they do here…

But he does not wake up. This, the Queen's men searching for them, and the woman beside him, still covering his mouth with her hand, are real. This is real.

"There's nothing here," one of the knight says, making both Tom and Ruby jump. "You're wasting time. We've already got the old lady, anyway. We have what we came here for. Hopefully she can give us the information that we want. Let's go."

Beside him, Tom hears Ruby's breath catch as the knights gallop away. They remain frozen for a second, wanting to make sure they are truly out of danger before they do anything more.

"They have Granny." Ruby's hand falls limply back to her side, and she clutches her red cape to her body. The gesture reminds Tom so much of Sybbie with her favorite blanket, and his heart aches for her, and for Ruby, both of them suddenly without the people that mean the most to them.

"This is all my fault."

"No, it's not," Tom says quickly, but she's hardly listening. "You couldn't have known this was going to happen—"

"I could have gone with her! I should have been able to stop her…and now Regina's got her and it's all my fault…"

Tom reaches out for her, not sure of how to comfort her but wanting to try anyway. She flinches away from him, not meeting his gaze. When she finally looks up again, there is a fiery determination in them, one that Tom realizes with a pang he has seen before…on Sybil's face.

"I'm going after her."

"All right,"

"And _you're_ coming with me."

"What?" Tom blurts out, bewildered. "I…what?"

"Hey, this is my world, remember? You wouldn't last on your own, not out here. I've been saving you ever since we met. And I promised to help you find your way home, anyway. You have to come with me. Don't you see?"

"But I—"

"Are you challenging me, Tom Branson?" Ruby asks, her eyes flashing with what might have been anger or amusement. "My world, my rules. Are you going to follow them or not?"

What can he do but agree? "I…yes. I'll come with you."

"Good. We leave at first light."


	5. Raising the Stakes

Dawn seemed to come much sooner than Tom wanted it to.

When he'd opened his eyes that morning, he had half-expected to find himself back in his bedroom at Downton, to discover that all of this—the Enchanted Forest, Ruby and her grandmother, the Black Knights and the Evil Queen—had been a dream all along, a fantasy conjured by his exhausted subconscious at the end of the day. The moment he'd opened his eyes to find rough dark wooden beams over his head and a scratchy blanket tangled about his legs, he'd realized that, against all odds, he was still in Ruby's grandmother's cabin—and the red-clad girl herself was bustling about the fire, preparing for their departure.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she tells him now as he appears, his hair and clothes no doubt a fright. "I was wondering if you were going to sleep all day. I'm glad I didn't have to wake you. Here." She presses something hot into Tom's hand, which he realizes is a bacon sandwich. A smile spreads over Ruby's face as she watches him take the first bite. "It's not as good as Granny's cooking, but it'll have to do," she tells him. "At least until we get her back."

He freezes, sandwich halfway to his mouth. "You still want me to come with you? I'll just slow you down, I'm sure. And I thought you said the queen's castle is impenetrable—"

"And I told _you_ that my friend is her stepdaughter. If anyone can give us advice on how to get inside, it's her. We just have to find her. Now hurry up and eat." Ruby shoves a satchel into Tom's hands. "I packed a few blankets and things for us. We can't do anything about your clothes for right now, but maybe we'll find something along the way we can barter for or steal—but we can work out the specifics later. We've lost enough time already. Come on."

Dazed, still groggily munching his makeshift breakfast, Tom heads for the door, not even putting up a fight. _Maybe this is a dream after all._

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Ruby raise the red hood of her cloak over her head before she reaches for him. He finds himself being whirled around to face her, and then Ruby's full lips are on his, kissing him so quickly and softly he half-wonders if he's imagined that, too.

He blinks at her. "What on earth was that for?"

Ruby smiles. "Luck."


	6. Acting on Instinct

Tom has never been much for hunting.

He'd found the practice as impractical as it was barbaric, a bunch of grown men pretending they have some sort of power over the forces of nature. Matthew had never been much of a fan either, but he'd at least taken to it more than Tom ever had. As he treks through the forest with Ruby now, he can't help but be reminded of the hunts at Downton, particularly in the early years before the war. Ruby reminds him of a hound tracking its prey, her dark eyes combing the forest, always on alert for friend or foe. He struggles to keep up with her, thankful for that red cloak she wears like a beacon—a cloak that, to Tom's confusion, he hasn't seen her remove once since he met her.

She raises one hand, a signal that Tom has come to understand means for them to stop. He hurries to her side and they crouch in the underbrush. Tom hears horse's hooves, this time accompanied by the rickety wheels of a carriage. Another group of travelers passing through. Probably harmless, but it's better to be safe than sorry, he supposes.

When the sound is gone, they straighten up again, prepared to get back on track. Something nailed to at tree catches Tom's eye—a wanted poster, bearing a drawing of a dark-haired woman on it. "Who's that?" he asks, watching as Ruby strides over to it and yanks it down.

"My friend. The one I told you about. The Queen's stepdaughter."

Tom gapes at her. "Her stepmother's put a price on her head?"

"I think that's the least of her crimes against Snow."

"Snow?" Tom asks, confused.

"That's her name. Snow White."

_"Snow White?"_

Ruby offers him the wanted poster for inspection. Sure enough, the young woman's name is emblazoned across the page, clear as day. _Snow White._

Now he's almost certain he's dreaming.

"She's been here," Ruby says suddenly, taking the piece of paper back from his grasp. "Snow. I can smell her. Come on, hopefully we can still catch her before she gets too far ahead." She darts away, leaving Tom frozen in place.

"…What do you mean, you can _smell_ her?"


	7. Do You Believe in Magic?

"Do you believe in magic?"

The question is posed casually, handed to him along with a crust of thick brown bread she packed for their journey, when Ruby finally allows them to set up camp for the night. They've been walking for hours with Ruby's nose as the only indicator as to whether or not they're following Snow White's trail or not, walking so long that Tom is certain that if he doesn't stop moving soon, he'll keel over right where he stands. He's not had a bite to eat since midday, and he's shocked that they haven't found Ruby's friend yet, despite Ruby's assurance that the trail hasn't gone cold, that she can still track her. Of course, Tom supposes as he takes the bread from her and sinks his teeth into the soft crust, if there is a price on Snow White's head, it's probably in her best interest to stay hidden. Tom knows a thing or two about hiding from the law, and he would bet money that wherever Snow White, is, she certainly doesn't want to be found.

"That seems a bit of an odd question," he answers around the mouthful of bread. "Considering that I'm speaking to a young woman who claims to be friends with _Snow White,_ of all people, and the only explanation for me being here _aside_ from magic is that I've been hallucinating this entire time. And, if I may-and please take this as a compliment-I don't think you could _possibly_ be a hallucination."

Ruby grins cheekily over at him. "And _I_ don't see how you can have heard of Snow and not be from around here, and yet here we are."

"Why do you want to know if I believe in magic?"

Ruby shrugged, waving a hand at the darkening forest around them, "Because I can tell that you don't, at least not yet, but I wanted to hear it from your lips first. And because, Tom, my world, this world...it _is_ magic. It's in all of us—maybe not as obvious as some, but it exists all around us." Her voice grows soft for a minute as she traces patterns in the dirt with her long fingernails. "You'd be surprised…And we're definitely going to need some magic before the end of all of this if we're going to rescue Granny. It would go a lot easier for both of us if you could start believing in it."

"I've never found it easy to believe in something I cannot see," he says simply, his tone growing a bit gruff. "At least, not any longer."

"Nobody ever does," Again, she's fingering that cloak, bringing it closer around her although there is no chill in the air. It's strange, her obsession with that cloak, and he is struck again how, for such a strong young woman, she resembles a child when she tugs the crimson fabric more tightly around herself. "What happened?"

It is as if her words flip a switch in Tom. Instantly, whatever light had been in his eyes is snuffed out, and his gaze slides from her face to the darkening forest floor. "Maybe I used to believe in magic…a long time ago. I believed in love, too. Maybe I still do. But…I lost someone," he says softly, his mind suddenly filled with images of blue eyes and full lips, of stolen kisses in the garage and the look on her face when she'd held her child, _their_ child, for the first time. When Sybil had died, it seemed she had taken all of the magic right out of Tom Branson's life.

Or did it? Because as much as part of him likes to believe that it did, Tom's life did not end when Sybil's did. He has a few friends on the estate—no true confidantes, not really, but people he mostly enjoys and feels he can trust. He has a daughter he adores more than anything else on this earth, a daughter he would do anything for—a daughter he cannot wait to get home to. Ruby asked him if he believed in magic…but what is magic, really? Surely it must be more than spells and enchantments and fairy tales, the way Ruby talks about it. Is there magic in the look on Sybbie's face when she sees him entering the nursery? Is it in the sound of her laugh, the sparkle in her eyes that reminds him so much of her mother? Because if it is…then maybe he can believe in magic after all.

"What's that?" Tom asks suddenly, dropping his crust of bread into his lap. He had thought it was a firefly at first, or else a trick of the light, his tired eyes fooling him into thinking that he sees something that is not there. Within seconds, though, he realizes that the light flashing before them is the wrong color for any sort of firefly, a pale, electric-looking blue that almost hurts his eyes. "Ruby, what is that?"

She turns over her shoulder slowly, seeming unfazed by it all. "A fairy," she answers, sounding almost bored. "The Blue Fairy, it looks like. Don't worry, she won't bother us. She looks busy."

"You're telling me I just saw a fairy?" Memories of summer days with his brothers and sisters are rushing back at him, running through the streets looking for fairies in gardens, fairies that his sisters always insisted were there even though Tom never saw them himself.

Ruby grins, her eyes shining at him in the darkness. "We might just make a believer out of you yet."


	8. It's all Your Fault

"Ruby, wait!"

He calls after her as loudly as he dares, stumbling on unsteady feet through the forest that she clearly knows like the back of her hand. "Ruby, it was an accident—"

"She's gone!" Ruby hisses, whirling around to face him. Her posture is rigid, and Tom isn't sure if he's ever seen her look so angry. "Snow was right there and then _you_ had to scare her away! Do you know how hard it's going to be to track her down again?"

"I thought you were an expert tracker," Tom lashes back. He can't help it. He is tired and hungry and cold, and every time it seems like he and Ruby are developing something resembling a real friendship he goes and does something like this and unleashes her temper. She is wild and volatile, and although part of him knows it must be her way of dealing with the guilt and grief she has over allowing her grandmother to be captured by the Queen's men, it's getting more and more difficult for Tom to rationalize it this way. "You found Snow White once, didn't you? Who's to say you can't do it again?"

"There is a price on Snow's head, Tom Branson," Ruby says exasperatedly. "She heard you crashing through the forest like some kind of confused wild animal and she bolted, thinking she was going to get caught. Do you think she's going to show her face around this forest any time soon? My best chance at finding Granny is gone and it's all your fault."

"My fault?" Tom blurts out before his common sense can stop him. He knows fighting isn't the answer, not now, not like this, especially when their raised voices are bound to attract someone's attention sooner or later. But Ruby's accusations have angered him, bringing back memories he prefers to have hidden. "My fault that I don't know this damn forest like you do? My fault that I couldn't understand your insane hand gestures you use when you want me to shut my mouth?" He waves his hand around dramatically, a cruel theatrical impersonation of Ruby, and her eyes narrow to slits. "How the bloody hell is that my fault? Maybe if you would actually tell me things instead of expecting me to read your bloody mind, we wouldn't have scared off Snow!"

"You are—you're impossible!"

"Like hell I am! At least I'm not hiding anything from you. Don't think I haven't seen you sneaking off these last few nights, Ruby, I'm not an idiot. I know you want to see your grandmother, but don't you ever forget that I have people that need me to. I have a daughter I have to get home to."

"Then maybe next time you should think of her before you decide to stop using your head."

"And maybe next time _you _should think before you go biting my head off over something that wasn't my fault. We're in this together, Ruby. Isn't that what you said?"

Her dark eyes are locked onto his, and he can't read the expression in them.. "Well, maybe I'd be better off doing this on my own, then."

"Maybe you would."

He can't be sure who initiates the next moment. In one instant hey're standing there, glaring daggers at each other, breathing heavily and biting down on lips to keep the rest of their hateful words locked safely within, and the next moment their lips are on each other's. Maybe it was Ruby who grabbed him, or maybe it was the other way around, but all Tom knows is the sensation of her lips on his, sweet and spicy at the same time. She bites at his bottom lip nearly hard enough to hurt, a clash of lips and teeth and tongues that almost makes Tom dizzy. His hands are everywhere, or maybe hers are, or maybe both. He sighs into her mouth, and Ruby responds with a sound that is almost a growl that seems to shoot straight through him. He doesn't understand what they're doing anymore, but he barely wants to. When they finally break apart, her hands are on his hips and his are tangled in her mane of dark hair, and he finds that he's pushed her so that her back is resting against the trunk of a tree. They stare at each other, their breathing heavier than before, and Tom realizes something.

He used to think of every kiss as a betrayal to Sybil's memory—the thought of Edna's lips on hers still makes him shudder. And yet, this kiss feels different. _Ruby _feels different.


End file.
